


Harry Potter and the Parents Who Lived

by hufflepuffbaby



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Harry Potter Has a Sibling, Harry has no scar, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sirius Black doesn't go to Azkaban
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2019-11-21 11:56:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18141872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflepuffbaby/pseuds/hufflepuffbaby
Summary: A loving family could change it all. Harry Potter grows up with his parents and two siblings, and that changes the whole story.





	1. Godric's Hollow

They had gone into hiding some time in November of ’79. Albus had insisted upon it, and Lily and James complied, knowing it was the only option, they had to keep their child safe. Lily had been three weeks pregnant when they had first gone into hiding, in the small town of Godric’s Hollow, only a street away from the Longbottoms.

It was hard at first, but Alice and Frank came around as often as they could, so did Sirius, Remus and Pete but when Harry was born on July 31st it was too dangerous for them to come around too much and the Longbottom’s had their son, Neville, just before Harry so they didn’t come around at all. Remus was on a mission for the Order, and Peter was in hiding, as their Secret Keeper, he had to be. And Sirius, well, they ad no idea where he was. He wasn’t on a mission, they would’ve known, somebody would have said something at the Order meeting the week before. But Sirius hadn’t owled either. He was supposed to be at Godric’s Hollow that day, it was Harry’s first Halloween, and he said he didn’t want to miss it, but he hadn’t showed and there was no owl of Patronus to say why.

But the day had been fun anyway. The little old lady, Bathilda Bagshot, from next door had come around for lunch. James had enjoyed watching Harry attempt to carve a pumpkin with the help of Bathilda, while Lily took a nap. Lily was three months pregnant and was having terrible morning sickness that lasted all day.

But she was awake when Bathilda left and sat with Harry as James made dinner. They fell asleep after that. Lily resting on James shoulder, and Harry spread over their legs. It was around nine when James woke up. He kissed Lily’s forehead, and her eyes fluttered open.

“I think it’s time to go up to bed.” He said quietly.

Lily nodded silently. She leant forward and kissed James, before scooping Harry into her arms and standing up. James leant over to pick up his wand.

“Leave it James.” Lily said, “We’re safe here, remember?”

She turned and walked out into the hallway. While her back was turned, James slipped his wand into the pocket of his jeans. He jogged into the hallway and smiled at Lily, who was halfway up the stairs with a sleeping Harry in her arms.

The door rattled and James spun around, gripping his wand.

“It’s just the wind, James.” Lily said, taking another step.

But James didn’t take his eyes off the door. The lock clicked, and he brandished his wand.

“Run Lily!” He shouted, “Run!”

He heard her scream and the slam of a door upstairs, but he kept his eyes on the door. It flew open, cracking down the middle and he was suddenly face to face with Lord Voldemort. James sent the first spell, but Voldemort blocked it. James sent spell after spell, not leaving a chance for Voldemort to send his own. The Dark Wizard growled in frustration, and after blocking James’ last spell, disapparated. James was confused for a moment, until he heard a loud _crack_ and a scream from upstairs. Momentarily forgetting his ability to apparate, James took the stairs three at a time.

He froze, just outside Harry’s bedroom door. Voldemort had his wand pointed at Lily, who had tears rolling down her face as she used her body to cover Harry from view.

“Move aside.” Voldemort hissed.

Lily shook her head and didn’t move.

“AVADA- “

“AVADA KEDAVRA!” James cried before the other wizard could finish.

The jet of green light hit Voldemort in the back, and he fell to the floor in a heap. James stared, his breath laboured, and his wand still raised.

Harry’s cries brought him out of his reverie, and he dropped his wand and picked his son up.

“Shh. Daddy’s here. It’s fine Harry.” James cooed.

“We’ve got to leave, James.” Lily whispered, still staring at the body of Voldemort, “Dumbledore will know what has happened tonight and they still think Sirius is our Secret Keeper.”

James nodded. He picked up his wand and stepped over the body, Lily right behind him. Harry was still crying, sniffling into his shoulder as they descended the stairs. Lily picked up her wand from the kitchen table, and James noticed the tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Lils..” He said, pulling her into his side, “Hey… hey. It’s ok, we’re good now. He’s gone.”

Lily nodded into his chest. She pulled away and wiped her eyes. Gripping James’ hand, Lily apparated them outside Sirius and Remus’ apartment building. It was chaos. Sirius was being dragged away by some Aurors, another three were holding Remus back, and there was a large crater in the road, with twelve dead bodies in it.

“What’s going on?” Lily demanded, speaking to one of the Aurors pulling Sirius away.

“I didn’t do it, Lily. It was Peter.” Sirius said.

“Black killed twelve Muggles and Pettigrew. He’s being shipped of to Azkaban now.” The Auror said.

“No!” Lily exclaimed, “We’ll figure it out, Sirius.”

Sirius nodded, and let himself be taken away and Lily went over to where James had got Reus to sit down.

“What happened, Remus?” Lily asked, sitting beside him.

“We were fighting.” Remus said, “He brought up the spy again and I didn’t want to talk about it and he went off again. He said it was probably me, what with all the time I was spending with the werewolves on His side. I told him to leave if he thought that.”

Remus took a deep breath, wiping at the tears that were falling.

“I heard him shouting at someone, so I came down to bring him back inside, apologise… something. He was shouting at Peter, something about betraying his best friends. Then there was an explosion, the Muggles that had come out of their houses, were dead. Peter was grinning, he dropped something, I don’t know what, then turned into a rat and ran off. Sirius still had his wand pointed at the ground where he had been when a dozen Aurors showed up.”

“We’ll get him back.” James said, “It was Pettigrew. He did it and he’ll be blamed for it.”

“Let’s go inside.” Remus said.

They climbed the stairs in silence, and James was grateful that Harry had fallen asleep. Remus told him to put Harry into the spare crib Sirius had insisted on having in the spare room, and then set about making tea.

He almost dropped the cup when he went to hand it to Lily.

“You’re pregnant?” He said.

“How’d you-?” Lily asked.

“I can smell it, you’re showing a bit too.” Remus smiled, finally handing Lily the cup and placing the other in front of James as he sat down.

Remus then sat down with his own tea in his hands.

“Can you tell the gender?” James asked, looking quite eager.

Remus took a deep breath in through his nose, “I can, yes.”

“Okay.” Lily said, “We can save this conversation for later. We need to figure out how to get a trial for Sirius, because Merlin knows they aren’t going to give him one now.”

“James will have to demand one.” Remus said, and elaborated at the confused looks he got. “He’s a pureblood and related, although distantly and only by marriage, to Sirius. The Wizengamot won’t be able to ignore it. We’ll either need a lawyer or do it ourselves, but we have to present all the evidence we have that we have.”

“Maybe you should be Sirius’ lawyer.” James said.

“I don’t understand enough, and I doubt they listen to me anyway.” Remus said.

“We’ll have to hire someone then.” James said.

“We’ll discuss it tomorrow morning.” Lily said, “We need sleep.”

Remus nodded reluctantly and went to his room while James and Lily went to the spare room, where Harry was asleep.


	2. Sirius Black's Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius is on trial for the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles. Of course, we know he is innocent but it has to be proven to the Wizengamot.

Remus was the first awake, if he had even slept at all, he couldn’t really tell. He went around on auto-pilot, making breakfast for them all. Lily came out of the bedroom first, Harry on her hip. She sat down at the table smiling at Remus as she started to feed Harry some eggs. Just as Remus sat down opposite her, James appeared and sat down beside her.

“Siri?” Harry asked, looking around.

“He’s not here right now Harry.” Lily said.

“Why?” Harry asked.

“He had to go away for a little bit, but he’ll come back.” Lily said gently.

“Ok.” Harry said brightly.

He wriggled out of Lily’s grip and crawled to the pile of toys in the corner.

“What do we do now?” James asked.

“We go to the Ministry and demand a trail for Sirius.” Lily said quietly, “Then we go to Dumbledore, tell him the truth, that we swapped Secret Keepers and it was Pettigrew that sold us out.”

James and Remus nodded, and they finished their breakfast before getting ready for the day. James wore some of Sirius’ clothes and Lily altered a few of Remus’ to fit her, before shrinking some clothes for Harry.

They used the Floo Network to get to the Ministry of Magic. The atrium was full of Wizards and Witches. Most of them seemed to be celebrating and they only realised what they were celebrating when people started shouting.

“He’s gone!”

“You-Know-Who has been defeated.”

Some people looked apprehensive, others daren’t even look up at the celebrating Ministry workers. Lily lead them around the crowd and towards the elevators.

“Minister’s Office, please.” She told the bellhop once they were all on.

The bellhop nodded and pressed the top button. Lily grabbed on as the elevator moved backwards then upwards.

She strode out of the elevator and entered the Minister’s office without even knocking, Remus and James close behind. Lily put Harry down on the sofa, before standing in front of Minister Bagnold, arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

“Mrs Potter, what can I do for you?” The Minister asked, removing her glasses and crossing her own arms.

“I demand Sirius has a trial.” Lily said, completely ignoring the plan for James to demand such a thing.

“And why should I give you that, there is more than enough evidence to put Black in Azkaban, which, of course, is where he already is.” Bagnold said.

“It is the law, is it not, that everybody has a trial?” Lily asked.

“It is.” Bagnold said, albeit reluctantly.

“Then Sirius will have one.” Lily said.

“Alright, Wednesday 10am. Court Room 4. Don’t be late.”

Lily nodded and marched from the room. James picked up Harry, and followed her out, Remus hot on his heels.

“I have a friend in the DMLE who owes me a favour. She’s a brilliant Defendant.” Lily said.

Once again, they got on the elevator and Lily told him where they needed to go. When they exited, Lily lead them to an office, but this time she knocked instead of barging in.

“Come in!” A voice called.

They entered the office. A petite girl, about Lily’s eight, with long blond hair and blue eyes was sat behind a desk.

“Lily!” The girl squealed. The Witch stood and ran towards Lily enveloping her in a hug, which was easily returned. “I heard about what happened last night, but there are so many rumours going around. I even heard one about your son being the only one left alive.”

“I’ll tell you everything later, but for now, this is my husband James and son Harry, and one of our best friends, Remus Lupin.”

“Please, take a seat.” She said, gesturing to the seats in front of her desk, as she sat back down.

“Boys, this is Kylie, her brother joined the Order just after we did.” Lily told them.

“It’s lovely to meet you.” Remus said.

“Likewise.” Kylie replied, “Now what can I do for you?”

“Our friend, Sirius Black, has been taken to Azkaban without a trial.” Lily said, “We want you to be his defendant at the trail we got him on Wednesday.”

“I take it this is my favour to you?”

“Yes, but you will probably get some form of money from Sirius, who is too Gryffindor-like for his own good.” Lily smiled.

“Alright.” Kylie nodded, “I read about Black in the paper this morning. Twelve Muggles dead, and one Wizard; Peter Pettigrew.”

“The paper is wrong.” Remus said, “Sirius didn’t do it. Peter isn’t dead, I saw him run away.”

“I believe you. My brother spoke rather highly of Mr Black, I don’t think he did it.” Kylie said, “I’ll need memories and such as evidence.”

“I’ll bring them to you this afternoon.”

“That’d be lovely, Lily.”

“Well, we best be going.” Lily smiled, “I’ll see you later.”

For the third time that morning, they got into the elevator. They flooed back to Remus and Sirius’ apartment.

“We need to see Dumbledore.” James said.

“Send a Patronus.” Lily said, “It’s Harry’s naptime and I feel like I’m gonna hurl.”

Lily went to put Harry to bed, and a few minutes later, just as James’ stag Patronus galloped away, they heard Lily throw up.

“Can you tell me what we’re having?” James asked.

“Nope.” Remus said, popping the ‘p’.

Lily came out of the bathroom shortly after, and just as they sat down with some tea, Remus felt the wards tingle, and the Albus Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace, followed closely by Minerva McGonagall.

“Minnie!” James exclaimed.

He pulled Minerva into a hug, which was surprisingly returned tightly.

“Hey, don’t cry.” He said, “We’re fine. I promise.”

Minerva wiped the few tears that had escaped and sat down beside Lily, accepting a cup of tea from Remus.

“You wished to speak with us?” Albus asked as he too sat down.

“Sirius has been taken to Azkaban-“

“Of course, he has, my dear.” Albus interrupted Lily, “He was your Secret Keeper and he betrayed you, then he killed those Muggles and Peter.”

“Peter was our Secret Keeper, Albus.” James said firmly, “We swapped at the last minute, we thought it would be safer. Everybody would have thought it was Sirius anyway, so we asked Peter to do it, and now Peter has framed Sirius. Sirius is innocent.”

“They found one of Peter’s fingers in the crater.” Albus said.

“I don’t know why that is.” Remus said, “But I saw Peter run away.”

“We’ve got Sirius a trial date. Wednesday at 10am.” Lily said.

“What do you need from us?” Minerva asked.

“You believe us?” Lily asked.

“Of course, I do.” Minerva nodded, “Peter seemed quite skittish at the last Order Meeting, kept itching his arm.”

“I’ll owl you, once I’ve spoken to the lawyer we’ve hired.”

They were silent for a moment.

“Have you heard from Alice and Frank?” Lily asked Minerva.

“Oh, dear, have you not heard?”

“Heard what?” Lily whispered.

“Bellatrix Lestrange found them after Voldemort fell.” Minerva said, “She tortured them to insanity, there in St Mungo’s now.”

Lily had tears rolling down her face by the time Minerva had finished.

“Excuse me.” She choked, standing up and walking into the bedroom.

 

 

Wednesday came both too quickly and too slowly for their liking. Lily took Harry to Augusta Longbottom’s house at 8am, not getting back until 9am. When she got back, her eyes were red and puffy, and she drank two cups of tea before she said anything.

At quarter to ten, they flooed to the Ministry and took the elevator to Court Room 4, where Kylie was waiting for them.

“Follow me.” Kylie told them.

She led them into the circular room. There were benches all around the walls, and on one side, the Wizengamot and the Minister were sat. Sirius was sat on a chair in the middle, chained by his wrists, ankles and chest.

Albus and Minerva were already there, sat opposite the Wizengamot and James, Remus and Lily took their seats in front of them. Kylie walked up to Sirius and stood beside him.

“Mr Black, I am your lawyer.” She said, “You’re innocent and we’re going to prove it.”

Sirius nodded.

The Sacred Twenty-Eight made up the Wizengamot. And out of the twenty-eight Wizards or Witches that were supposed to be there, there were only sixteen; Abbott, Bulstrode, Burke, Crouch, Fawley, Flint, Greengrass, Macmillan, Malfoy, Nott, Ollivander, Parkinson, Selwyn, Shacklebot, Shafiq and Yaxley.

“Silence!” Minister Bagnold shouted, “We are here today to be witness to the trail of Sirius Black, who is charged with being a Death Eater, and the killings of twelve Muggles and one Peter Pettigrew. How does the defendant plead?”

“Innocent.” Sirius croaked.

“Miss Kylie Jackson is the defendant’s lawyer, I presume?”

“Yes, Minister.” Kylie nodded.

“Well then, proceed with your evidence.” The Minister said.

“Firstly, I’d like to bring your attention to Black’s forearm. There is no Dark Mark, meaning you have no evidence that he is a Death Eater.”

“He was the Potter’s Secret Keeper, according to a letter from Albus Dumbledore, and You-Know-Who attacked and destroyed their home.”

“Pettigrew was their Secret Keeper, actually.” Kylie said.

“Dumbledore?”

“It had been decided that Sirius Black would be the Secret Keeper, but, without my knowledge, it was changed, and Peter Pettigrew became their Secret Keeper.” Dumbledore explained.

“Mr and Mrs Potter, can you confirm this?” Bagnold asked.

“Sirius Black is my best friend, he’s like the brother I never had.” James said, “Everybody know that, we were inseparable in school and when we realised this, we decided Peter was a safer option as Secret Keeper, because nobody would have thought we’d choose him.”

“Thank you, Mr Potter.” Bagnold said, “But seeing as Mr Pettigrew is dead, we cannot do much.”

“We have reason to believe he is not dead, Minister.” Kylie said.

“Do you have any evidence?”

Kylie pulled a vial from her pocket and held it up.

“This is the memory of Remus John Lupin. He saw what happened and has agreed to us using the memory as evidence.” She said.

“Very well then.”

Bagnold flicked her wand, and a pensieve rose from the stone floor. Kylie tipped the memory into the pensieve and a scene formed in a grey mist above it.

_If looks could kill, then the look Remus was going Sirius would cause the latter to die ten times over._

_“Leave then.” Remus seethed, “We’re done. You obviously don’t trust me, so get the fuck out!”_

_“Fine!” Sirius spat._

_Sirius turned on his heel, picked up his jacket and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. A few seconds passed, and then there was a crash. Remus ran out of the room, and down the stairs. When he got outside, he saw Peter, wand pointed at Sirius. Peter’s mouth was drawn into a sneer, that didn’t go with his pudgy demeanour._

_“It’s all your fault, Sirius.” Peter said, “Lily and James and their disgrace of a a child will be dead soon and you’ll be blamed.”_

_“I will make sure you pay for this.” Sirius spat._

_“You can’t do that from Azkaban though, can you? By the time the Aurors arrive, these Muggles will be dead, and I will be long gone.”_

_A bright blue light came from the end of Peter’s wand and as it hit the floor, it exploded. Debris flew everywhere, and as the smoke cleared, you could see Peter grinning at the dead bodies around him. Suddenly, where Peter stood there was a rat. Sirius tried to catch it, but it had already scurried off._

The image dissolved and it was silent.

“I’m not even going to ask for a vote.” Bagnold said after a few moments, “I clear Sirius Black of all charges. Peter Pettigrew is now charged with murder, being a Death Eater and being an unregistered Animagus. I want him found.”

With a flick of her wand, the chains bounding Sirius fell away. Bagnold left and the Wizengamot followed. Sirius stood, and turned to where James, Lily and Remus were walking towards him, followed by Minerva and Albus.

James pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

“James – I need – air.” Sirius choked out.

“Right, right.” James said pulling away, with a wide grin.

Lily was next, she didn’t hug him as tightly as James did, but she didn’t let go for a few minutes.

“Minnie!” Sirius said, his voice hoarse.

“Mr Black.” Minerva said, giving him a hug.

“Albus.” Sirius nodded curtly.

“Sirius.” Albus nodded back, before turning and leaving the chamber.

Minerva glared at his back and followed him out.

Sirius turned to where Remus was stood. He opened his mouth to say something, but Remus stopped him by cupping his face and kissing him. Sirius kissed back with equal emotion, running his fingers through Remus’ hair. Sirius pulled away and leant his forehead against Remus’.

“Come on you two.” Lily said fondly, “we need to pick up Harry then we can continue that conversation.”

Remus nodded and although he was confused about the conversation that was to be continued, Sirius allowed himself to be led out.


	3. A New House and Two Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, the Potter's certainly couldn't live with Remus and Sirius forever, could they?

Christmas came and went too quickly in all of their opinions. Lily was the least bothered by it though, as she counted down the days April 10th, her due date.

Remus had told them what they were having.

_“Two girls.” He had said._

_“Two!” James said in a high, panicked voice._

_Lily was smiling brightly and was already starting to think of names._

They had been looking for a house, they couldn’t live with Remus and Sirius forever, after all. They’d looked at two houses already. The first house they had looked at was right next to a farm with horses in a field just behind their house; that had been an immediate no because of Lily’s allergies. The second was in a Wizarding town and they had been swarmed by witches and wizards who had seen them in _The Prophet_ before getting to the front door.

They had apparated to where they had been told and a short, bald man lead them into a forest. Harry clung to James as they walked down a long dirt path.

“Wow.” Lily breathed when they caught sight of a house in the middle of the woods.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” The bald man said.

They were looking at a brick, two storey house with a small porch and a large front and back garden. The bald man lead them inside and showed them around. There were five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room and a small library.

“I love it.” Lily told James once the man had stepped away.

“Then we’ll have it.” James said.

James kissed Lily’s cheek before walking away and talking to the bald man about buying the house.

 

A week later, they had moved into their new house and were having Remus and Sirius around for dinner. They sat down for an early dinner of chicken pie, potatoes and vegetables at around half past four. At quarter to six, Remus had suggested a walk which they all agreed to.

They all pulled on coats, hats and scarves to fight against the chilly weather of January and when Lily had finally got a pair of gloves on Harry’s small hands, they were of.

James and Sirius walked alongside Harry in their Animagus forms, while Remus and Lily walked arm in arm behind them.

“You know we’d make you a Godfather if we could, right?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, I know.” Remus smiled at her, “But you can’t.”

“It’s not right though.” Lily glared at the ground, “One day, it will be legal, I’m sure of it.”

Remus didn’t say anything. He wished he could believe her, but he didn’t. It probably had something to do with his father hating werewolves all his life, but he shook that thought away and watched as Sirius tackled James into a puddle and Harry clapped and giggled at them.

It had eventually gotten too dark and too cold for them to keep walking, so they turned around to go home. Lily had Harry on her hip, and he had just drifted off to sleep when they got to the house.

“I’ll make tea while you put him to bed.” Lily said, carefully placing Harry in James.

Lily bustled around the kitchen, as Sirius and Remus took a seat at the table.

“There are two owls at the window, Lils.” Sirius murmured, his head on the table.

Lily place two cups of tea on the table before quickly opening the window and letting both owls inside.

“This one’s from Dumbledore,” Lily said, “But I don’t recognise the other owl.”

“Read Dumbledore’s first.” James said as he walked in.

“Dear Mr and Mrs Potter, Mr Black and Mr Lupin, I’m writing to all four of you at once because Death Eaters are still a threat and sending three individual letters would’ve been too dangerous. There is a meeting for the Phoenix on the 1st of February. I hope you can make it.”

“Can I tell him to fuck off?” Sirius grumbled.

“You can, but I don’t think you should.” Remus smiled.

“I’ll write a reply in the morning, to tell him we’ll be there.” Lily said, ignoring Sirius.

She scanned through the second letter.

“You remember the Prewett twins, right?” She asked quietly.

“Yeah?” James said, “Why?”

“Their sister, Molly invited us to lunch on the seventh.” Lily explained, “She has a son Harry’s age and their neighbour has a daughter the same age as her youngest.”

“Reply in the morning, Lils.” James said, “I’ll buy an owl and it can be it’s first delivery, but for now I want to sleep.”


	4. The Order of the Phoenix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting of the Order. A lunch at the Weasley's. And the birth of two baby girls.

 

The Order of the Phoenix was a secret society founded by Albus Dumbledore in 1970. They held meetings in Augusta Longbottom’s Manor.

So, on the 1st of February, Lily and James pulled on their coats and made sure Harry had his on too, before Apparating to the Longbottom Manor. Minerva was stood on the other side of the gate in her usual green robes. She made no move to open the gates.

“What was it that you both asked me to help you with in your seventh year?” She asked.

“We asked you to train us, to help us get better at duelling so that we could help fight when we left school.” Lily said.

With a wave of her wand the gates opened, and the Potter family was allowed in.

“You’re the last to arrive.” Minerva said as she led them up the drive.

“We are a little late, I know.” Lily said, “But I kept throwing up, so we left late.”

“It’s quite alright dear, you’re here now.” Minerva waved her off.

They entered the manor a few seconds later and were greeted by Augusta.

“Neville’s in the room at the end of the hall, go put Harry with him and we’ll get started.”

James did as he was told, while Augusta bombarded Lily with questions about her pregnancy.

“Now, Augusta,” Minerva glared sternly, “We have a meeting to hold, you can ask your questions later.”

“Oh yes, of course. Of course.” Augusta said, “This way then.”

She led them to the drawing room, where a long table was set up. Dumbledore was sat at the head of the table, and Minerva and Augusta took their seats on either side of him. Sirius and Remus were sat about halfway down the table, and Lily took the seat next to Remus, and James took the seat on her other side.

“Now that we’re all here, we have a few things that need to be talked about.” Dumbledore said, “Firstly, the tragic event of both Frank and Alice Longbottom being torture to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange and three other Death Eaters. Luckily, they have been captured by Aurors and have all been sent to life imprisonment in Azkaban.”

Augusta was wiping away tears as Albus spoke.

“Nobody knows where the body of Voldemort is.” Albus continued.

“Isn’t it in Godric’s Hollow?” James cut in.

“Aurors searched your home, some of our Members too, and nobody can find it.” Albus said, “We assume that Death Eaters took the body after finding out about his death.”

“What do we do now then?” An Auror asked.

“We can disband.” Albus said, “A few people here aren’t full members and no longer need to be. We may need to come back together one day, but for now we don’t have to.”

Albus spoke for a little longer before he let them say what they needed. The meeting was only about half an hour and then it was over.

“Lily,” Albus said, “may I talk to you?”

Lily nodded and as quickly as she could, being heavily pregnant, she walked over to him.

“Horace has said he will continue on as Potions Master for the rest of this Academic Year. I want you to take over in September.”

“W-What? Why?”

“You were the second highest in you class at Hogwarts; close behind Severus. I asked Severus and he refused, even after I told him it guaranteed protection from Death Eaters that stay out of Azkaban. He recommended you.”

“I’ll have to talk to James.” Lily said, “I have a son and I’m about to have twins. I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I ask.”

 

Lunch at the Weasley home on the seventh went rather well in Lily’s opinion. Her and James got on well with both Arthur and Molly and Harry played well with Ron, who was his age. Molly had sat Lily down and given her plenty of advice on having twins and more than one child.

A few days after the lunch, Lily told James about the job offer from Albus. James had immediately told her to take it if she wanted to and that he didn’t mind staying at home with the children. The same day she owled Albus and accepted the job.

 

During the early morning of March 12th, 1982, Lily woke up in a familiar pain.

“James!” She said frantically, pushing him sharply.

“What?” he grumbled without opening his eyes.

“I’m giving birth.” She groaned around a flash of pain.

James was awake immediately.

“Shit.” He muttered.

He fumbled for his glasses and was able to slip them on then jumped out of bed. He grabbed his wand and with a flick, the lights were on. Lily was standing up and waddling towards the door.

“Send-Send a Patronus to Sirius and Remus.”

James nodded and quickly sent the Patronus, before helping Lily towards the stairs. Instead of going down the stairs with her, James went to get Harry from his room. Harry fell right back to sleep after James picked him up.

Lily was waiting by the floo, breathing in deeply, when he got down stairs. He picked up the bag next to the fireplace before throwing the floo powder into the grate and shouting his destination.

 They stepped through the green flames and were soon in the pristine, white walls of St Mungo’s Maternity Ward. A witch came forward and took Lily to a room for her to settle down.

“You can’t go in there with the child.” Another Healer said, putting her arm out to stop him from following.

James nodded numbly and sat on one of the wooden chairs in the waiting area.

“Prongs!” a voice called a few moments later.

“Paddie!” Harry giggled.

James head shot up and he grinned at Remus and Sirius.

“Look after Harry, won’t you?”

But he had placed Harry in Sirius arms and rushed off without waiting for an answer.

Three hours later, at five o’clock in the morning, James came back with a large grin on his face.

“Moony my boy, you were right!” He exclaimed, picking Harry up, “Two girls! C’mon, come see them.”

He led them down the corridor, to room 203 and pushed open the door. Lily was propped up in the bed, with two bundles of blankets in her arms.

“You wanna see your sisters, Harry?” James asked.

Harry nodded eagerly and James placed him beside Lily.

“Meet Mackenzie Euphemia Potter and Madison Evans Potter.”


	5. Family Is Important

Lily loved being a Professor. She loved working with the children and helping them learn as best they could. But like any job, there were bad parts. To Lily, the worst was being around her own children less than she liked, but due to James’ love of annoying Minerva any chance he got, she saw them more often than she would’ve. James would often sit at the back of the class, with the girls on his lap and Harry by his side. But on a day like this he wouldn’t dare appear suddenly, because of course, today was the first of September and the first years were to be sorted.

Lily was sat in between Professor Flitwick and Minerva’s empty seat, watching as the older years poured into the hall and found a seat at their house tables.

Just a few minutes after everybody had settled the doors opened and Minerva walked in, leading the first years. Once they were all in a line, the hall fell silent. The first-years looked confused, but when the hat twitched, their attention was drawn to it. They watched intently as the hat sung it’s sing, listening to the traits of the four different houses, before clapping along with the rest of the students when the song was finished.

“When I call your name,” Minerva said once the hall was silent again, “you will walk forward, sit on the stool and the hat will be placed on your head and you will be sorted.”

Lily watched as the students were sorted, waving to Charlie when he looked towards her. Charlie was the second Weasley to arrive at Hogwarts. Bill was in his third year now and their younger brother wouldn’t arrive for another few years.

But one name caught Lily’s full attention.

“Tonks, Nymphadora.” Minerva had called out.

The first thing that had caught Lily’s attention was the girl’s first name, it was quite an unusual name but what she focused on was the last name, ‘Tonks’. She felt like she knew it from somewhere but couldn’t place it. But she forgot about it when the hat shouted ‘HUFFLEPUFF!’ and the girl threw off the hat to reveal bright yellow hair, a large contrast to the light brown hair she once had. Minerva looked slightly defeated; in her words, Metamorphmagus were often troublemakers.

Lily just shook her head with a small smile playing on her lips, she may be some trouble, but if she was, Nymphadora Tonks would provide a lot of funny stories to be told.

A few names later, and ‘Weasley, Charles’ was called. The hat shouted ‘GRYFFINDOR!’ just seconds after it was placed on Charlie’s head.

Minerva smiled at him before he ran off to the Gryffindor table, where Bill was cheering the loudest.

 

James’ habit of popping up around the school during the week started up again when Lily found him sat at her desk with Mackenzie and Madison on his lap and Harry sat on her desk playing with a toy train.

But she didn’t have time to berate him because the third year class she was about to teach had begun pouring in behind her.

She smiled instead and began the lesson, picking up Harry when he started to cry and acting as though nothing was different.

It was the end of the day, so Lily let them go slightly early before turning to James with a stern glare.

“What have I told you about sitting in my chair?”

“That I shouldn’t.” James said, “but I haven’t listened yet, so I don’t see why you keep trying.”

Lily shook her head with a smile, before carrying Harry into her office and through another door into her rooms with James right behind, the girls still in his arms.

The three children were placed on the sofa and James and Lily sat close together on the other side, watching them.

“How are Moony and Padfoot?” Lily asked.

“They’re good.” James nodded, “I went to theirs the other day and we took Harry, Madison and Mackenzie to the park for a little while.”

They talked for a little longer before noticing the twins were getting tired and set them down for their nap. Then Harry fell asleep on the sofa and they had to carefully move him, before sitting back down and relaxing.

“Do you recognise the name ‘Tonks’?” Lily asked after a while.

“I’m not sure.” James said, “I think I’ve heard it before, why’d you ask?”

“There’s a girl, a first-year, Nymphadora Tonks.” Lily answered, “It’s an unusual name, but I recognise it from somewhere.”

James’ face scrunched up in concentration and he didn’t speak for a few moments.

“Andromeda.” He said as though it was obvious.

“Sirius’s cousin?”

“yeah, um, she married that bloke, Ted Tonks, a Hufflepuff Muggleborn and was blasted off the family tree.” James nodded, “Sirius told me, it’s why he wasn’t at my house during the summer between second and third year. He was at Andy’s house meeting her kid.”

“What was the kid called?”

“Sirius said it was Dora or something like that.”

Lily hummed and curled closer to him, her mind whirring.

 

Lily had been contemplating what to do with the information she had attained. She had told James not to mention anything to Sirius while she tried to figure out if Nymphadora was actually the Dora Sirius had mentioned so may years ago.

“What’s on your mind, Lily?” Minerva asked one morning in early October.

“Nymphadora Tonks.” Lily answered simply.

“Ah, only a month into the year and she’s already a trouble maker.” Minerva shook her head, “She keeps changing into teachers and trying to take over my classes.”

“No, not that.” Lily shook her head.

“What is then, dear, it seems to be wearing on your mind?”

“Do you know who her parents are?”

“Of course, I do. Why, is something wrong?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Lily said quickly, “It’s just, I think she’s Sirius’ cousin.”

“I believe you might be right.” Minerva glanced at the source of their conversation, “Andromeda Black left the year before you started Hogwarts, so you probably won’t know her. But Edward Tonks was in his last year when you arrived, so you may remember him.”

“Hufflepuff, right?”

“Yes, they were both lovely to teach.” Minerva smiled, “They married shortly after Edward finished school and Andromeda was almost immediately disowned because of his blood status. They had a child in ’72 and I haven’t heard much since.”

“They’re probably the only good part of Sirius’ family left, and I’m wondering whether or not to mention it.”

“I’ll send a letter to Andromeda and ask her, if you like?”

“Only if it’s not a bother.”

“Of course, it isn’t, dear.”

 

Minerva sent the letter and came to Lily a few days later with a reply.

“Thank you, Minerva.” Lily smiled as she took the letter.

“No problem, dear.” Minerva said before walking back out of Lily’s office.

Lily took a deep breath before carefully opening the letter and reading it.

_Dear Mrs L Potter,_

_I’m so glad you reached out to me, but please, next time you wish to contact me, feel free to write yourself._

_Sirius was always my favourite in the family, Uncle Alphard came in at a close second (Sirius was always more fun to talk to) and everyone else in our family were all horribly prejudice. But we haven’t spoken in a long time. You’d think a war would bring a family closer together, but I had Nymphadora to look after and he must have been busy too, I imagine. I was so disappointed when his picture turned up in The Prophet and when I read those articles about him being imprisoned, I was so worried that he had turned out like the rest of the Blacks. But then he was released, and The Prophet said it was all a misunderstanding, oh I was so relieved. I meant to send an owl then, but Dora got ill and then Ted caught it and then I was just so busy that I never got around to it._

_I wish I had gotten in contact with Sirius sooner, but late is better than never, I suppose._

_In her letter, Minerva mentioned that you wanted to discuss it with Sirius. That is fine by me. I would love to see him again, so once you’ve spoken to him, have him owl me._

_Sincerely,_

_Andromeda Tonks._

Lily quickly scribbled her reply, saying she’d talk to Sirius as soon as she could. She composed herself before walking through the corridor to the Owlery and sending off the letter.

 

Lily didn’t get a chance to talk to Sirius until December. Of course, she could’ve spoken to him in early November when, in his words, he came to grace Minnie with his presence on his birthday, but she wanted to speak to him alone, so she waited.

The Christmas Holidays begun and as she had done in the previous years, Lily flooed home to spend it with her family.

She didn’t get much time to rest though, before she was getting ready to go to the Burrow for dinner.

Remus and Sirius were already there when they arrived; so were the Lovegood’s, an eccentric family, that lived over the hill. Xenophilius had almost white hair and Pandora and their daughter, Luna, had more of a dirty blonde, but they all had pale silvery blue eyes.

Dinner went by, and everyone had seconds, a few even had thirds, then pudding and then everybody gathered in the living room. They watched the children play in the middle of the floor while having their own conversations. Sirius was leant against the side of the mantlepiece making funny faces at Madison when Lily snuck up beside him.

“LilyFlower.” Sirius grinned.

“Shut up, you mangy mutt.” Lily smiled.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Your cousin.”

Sirius stiffened slightly but kept entertaining Madison.

“Which one?” He asked.

“Andromeda.”

Sirius relaxed slightly, but there was still a tenseness in his shoulders.

“What about her?”

“Her daughter started Hogwarts this year.”

“Dora?” Sirius asked, turning his full attention to Lily.

“Yeah, she’s a troublemaker alright. A Metamorphmagus.”

“Why are you mentioning this now?”

“Christmas is a time for family, don’t you think?” Lily said, before walking away and sitting on the sofa beside Pandora and joining the conversation between her and Molly.

Sirius was left feeling rather confused, but instead of mentioning it, he sat with the children and enjoyed the nonsense conversation they were having.

 

It wasn’t until later that night that he began thinking about what Lily had said. Remus was asleep beside him, snoring slightly, completely unaware of his boyfriend’s inability to sleep.

Slowly, as to not wake the sleeping werewolf, Sirius slipped out of bed and padded into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. When he had the cup in his hands he sat on the windowsill and just watched the stars, thoughts racing in his brain.

Did Lily mean he should owl Andy? He hadn’t seen her in so long though, maybe she didn’t want to speak to him.

It was about four in the morning when he realised, he hadn’t drunk any of his tea and it had gone cold.

That’s how Remus found him twenty minutes later, sat on the windowsill, in nothing except boxers, staring at a cold cup of tea.

“Pads?”

“Moony.” Sirius replied without looking up, “Do you think Andy wants to talk to me?”

“Andy?” Remus asked, his eyebrows furrowing as he leant against the door frame.

“My cousin, Andromeda. I haven’t spoken to her in a long time, but Lily mentioned that her daughter started Hogwarts in September and then said some mysterious shit about Christmas being a time for family then walked away.”

“What harm could it do to reach out, Pads?” Remus said, “Come back to bed and think about it in the morning after you’ve slept.”

Remus walked away without another word and Sirius followed crawling back into bed and attempting to fall asleep.

Neither one mentioned anything when they woke up, but it was still on Sirius’ mind.

 

It was on Christmas Eve that Sirius finally made up his mind and sat down to write a letter to Andromeda.

_Dear Andy,_

_I know we haven’t spoken in a while; I really should have kept in contact, but things got a little hectic, didn’t they?_

_I’m not sure if you even want to talk to me but Lily was sort of hinting at it, so I decided to write. If you don’t want to then just don’t reply but I really would like to see you again, if that’s okay._

_Love,_

_Sirius._

He tried to write more, but couldn’t think of anything to say, so he left it at that and sent it off with his and Remus’ owl, Aquila.

 

He didn’t receive a reply until late Christmas Day, and his panic level had been slowly rising, thoughts of never getting one back becoming clearer and clearer until he saw the owl on his windowsill.

His hands shook as he opened it and began to read.

_Dear Sirius,_

_I know we should’ve stayed in touch, but as you said, it got quite hectic and even dangerous for a while, so it was easier not to._

_I would love to see you again, why don’t you come around tomorrow for afternoon tea, let’s say four? Ted is taking Dora into Muggle London, so we’ll have a while to talk, just us._

_Love,_

_Andy._

Sirius sent back his reply and told Remus of his plans before he started to make dinner.

 

Remus left at about three in the afternoon, to bring Harry, Madison and Mackenzie back to the apartment so Lily and James could have the house to themselves for a while. Sirius was probably going to leave before he got back so they’d see each other when Sirius arrived home later in the afternoon.

At five to four, Sirius got up and stepped into the fireplace. He threw down the floo powder and shouted his destination.

“Willow Cottage!”

The green flames engulfed him and wen he stepped out he was in a cosy little cottage.

“Andy?” He called.

“Sirius!” A voice called, and suddenly he was pulled into a hug which he returned just as enthusiastically.

“How are you?”

“I’m good,” Sirius replied, “And you?”

“Oh, you know, Christmas is always stressful with a child, but it has gotten more peaceful since she went off to Hogwarts.”

Sirius was ushered onto the sofa then Andy disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a tray of tea and biscuits.

They sat and chatted for hours, and it wasn’t until Andromeda realised, she needed to start dinner before Ted and Dora got home that Sirius got ready to leave.

“Sirius.” Andromeda said seriously, “Remember that you are my family, always have been, always will be. If ever you need something, tell me and I will help as best as I can.”

“Of course, Andy, that goes for you too.”

“Family is important Sirius, never forget that.”


	6. not a chapter

I'm sorry for the lack of posting, but I'm just really confused at the moment. I know where I want to go with this fanfiction, but I'm having trouble getting my head around it completely. I'm going to put this on pause for a while, until I've figured it out. I'm very sorry. 

-M


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